Deep Brain Stimulation Provides Lasting Relief From Severe Depression

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Article: http://neurosciencenews.com/dbs-depression-6260/

Summary: This study took 8 patients who suffered from severe depression that was non-treatable by therapy, drugs, and even treatments like electroconvulsive therapy and gave them small electrode implants on the brain region involved in perception and pleasure. The study found that these patients depression ratings dropped to very low levels of depression and half the the patients scored less than the threshold for diagnosis after the first month. Some of the patients suffered from side effects that caused vision problems that were mitigated. This points towards future research involving more patients that, if shown successful, could develop into a practiced therapy in Europe.

Reflection: As someone who suffers from depression, I absolutely love seeing new research and new methods of treating it. It's such a common thing to suffer from and it feels good knowing that others have been and could continue to be helped by this new research. I feel that it's very important to be able to help those who are resistant to therapy and non therapeutic treatments tie more into the class subject matter than other treatments.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 2, 2017 at 11:55 PM

    I'm glad scientists still look into new therapies, even though we have multiple treatments and research on these illnesses. Not everything can be cured, but we still look for new approaches to help everyone.

    ReplyDelete

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